Cup of Chinese Tea, Anyone?

My youngest son has just visited from China where he works as a teacher of kindergarten children.

Chinese parents are keen for their children to be taught English so he has been in southwest China for just over three years.

It was lovely to have him and his Chinese girlfriend visit for a few weeks over Christmas and now that they have returned to China, things are back to normal.

One of the gifts that they brought with them was a Chinese tea set and a selection of Chinese teas.

I have been to China and have had the whole ‘tea’ experience (and believe me it is very different to what we understand by the word ‘tea’). There is a much greater cultural and social significance and ‘tea’ is often used as a way of concluding business transactions.

For those who are unfamiliar with Chinese tea, there are many different varieties: white, green, Oolong, black/red, flowering etc. Here is some information on Chinese Tea.

Here in the west, we almost exclusively drink black/red tea, which is significantly fermented and more strongly flavoured. The green and Oolong varieties are only partially fermented and are thus more fragrant and more delicately flavoured.

Oolong is speciality tea from south eastern China and is thought to be far more potent at breaking down protein and fat in the body – so it may aid a weight loss programme.

Cup of Chinese tea, anyone?

I am left with a substantial amount of both red and Oolong tea and would be happy to provide a sample of this to anyone who wishes to try it.

I can’t promise to provide the whole tea ceremony but at least you can judge the flavour for yourself. And it is very different from the mass produced green tea produced by the large tea companies!

We never drink English tea at home. Infusions are preferred and I like those with aniseed, fennel and liquorice. My wife likes the Bergamot in Earl Grey but I prefer Lapsang Suchon. Recently we acquired a jar of Kashmiri tea which has yet to be sampled. Rooibos or Red Bush tea from South Africa is a favourite during the day. We keep some ordinary tea for visitors who are not adventurous, and refer to it as ‘builder’s tea.’
We would love to hold an Oolong tea ceremony.